Old West
Ghost Tows & Mining
Camps
Here are a few
locations of Bradshaw ghost towns.
We
have been
to them all over the
last 40 years, but it will take us awhile to
load and post many of them.
We will be adding more locations over time
as we build this site.
They will be announced in our newsletter.
Historical Locations
If you like the
historical aspect of the Bradshaws we have
placed a
few of them here. We
will be adding more locations over time. To
visit the Historical Locations page
Click Here
Gunfights
Many ask about
gunfights in the Bradshaws. Hollywood has
done a good job of portraying men that went
out into the town streets and "drew" on each
other. Per historical newspaper accounts
this rarely happened in the old West.
In my research of this area, (1865 to 1873),
men ventured West after the Civil war for
jobs and a new start, and many wandered into
the Bradshaws. Men and families tended to
strongly rely on each other because times
were so dangerous with Indian attacks and
raids. Everyone was armed continually yet
they rarely fought each other. This survival
lifestyle probably forged deep long lasting
relationships even among men who fought on
opposing sides during the Civil war.
Later after the Indian war ended, (1874 to
1912) came more violence in four areas:
-
Disputes
over mining claims, many times ending in
murder.
-
Accidental
gunshot wounds. Men simply, accidentally
shot themselves.
-
Saloon
Brawls increased after the Apache war.
More and more saloons were built which
resulted in drunkenness and fights. At
times murder was the result by shooting
one in the back. One interesting and sad
account I have written about before can
be read by
clicking here
One Hollywood
western movie that has depicted as to how an
"old west" gunfight might have occurred is
Kevin Costner's Open Range.
Mines
The Bradshaws
are loaded with old gold and silver mines.
Mining was the sustaining industry for about
70 years. In the early years, miners were
killed by Indians tyring to discourage the
activity. Old mines
are fun to search out but never venture into
them. They are unstable and dangerous.
|